


To fix what is lost

by hyperius



Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics)
Genre: Bruce Wayne is a Good Parent, Fluff, Hopeful Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Jason Todd Needs A Hug, Jason Todd-centric, Protective Bruce Wayne, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, he gets one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-03
Updated: 2020-10-03
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:40:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,293
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26783053
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hyperius/pseuds/hyperius
Summary: Bruce knows he’s failed Jason. He knows he’s pushed his son away over and over again, but he wishes to fix their relationship. The only way to do that, though, is to actually speak with his son.
Relationships: Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne
Comments: 8
Kudos: 224





	To fix what is lost

Jason knows where he lies within his so-called family. Dick is the golden boy, Tim is the protege, Damian is the blood son, and Jason? He’s the black sheep. He’s the failure, the reject, the replaced and disobedient soldier. He’s the one who died: the cautionary tale. He’s the one who didn’t come back right. He’s the one who came back with anger in his soul and green in his veins. It’s why he’s still rejected by the family; held at arms length and sneered at.

He’s not a son, though. Not anymore. That much has been made clear, over and over _and over_ again. The ragged scar on his neck is proof enough.

It’s why he doesn’t go to family dinners, despite getting the invitation. It just, it hurt too much to see them all be a family; a happy family together, while Jason remains the odd man out. Jason shucked off his jacket and guns, taking a seat on the couch in his make shift living room, head tilting back against the couch as he shut his eyes. They were having family dinner tonight, as a matter of fact. Jason knew they would all be laughing, enjoying each other’s company and eating Alfred’s homemade food… without him. “Doesn’t matter, they won’t even notice.”

“Who won’t notice?”

Jason jumped, launching off the couch and turning back around to stare at the silent intruder with wide eyes, fun raised and pointed. Batman, of fucking course it is. Jason scowls, crossing his arms as he glared at the man, “What do you want?”

Batman shifted, just barely. Any normal person wouldn’t notice it, but Jason wasn’t normal. He knows Bruce. He knows Bruce all too well. He knows that this is his version of fidgeting: of being uncomfortable. Bruce was uncomfortable, more than likely, it’s because he doesn’t want to be here. He doesn’t want to be here, with Jason. It was probably Alfred who sent him, as it is, Alfred seems to be the last and only one who cares. Not Bruce, no, Bruce didn’t even want to come, _or so Jason thinks_ , “You should come to the family dinner tonight.”

Ha, as if. “Why are you really here, Bruce? It’s clear you don’t wanna be here, so why bother?”

Bruce let out a long sigh, slowly removing his cowl, “It’s not that I don’t want to be here. Listen, Jay, it’s just that… it’s always tricky with you. You can’t seem to see what’s obvious, and I can’t seem to say it.”

“What’s obvious? And what’s that, Bruce? That you don’t want me? That you wished I stayed in my grave?”

“What? No! Of course not!”

“Then what is it? It’s _obvious_ you want me gone, so why are you really here?”

“I don’t want you gone, Jason!” Bruce stepped forward, running his hands through his hair in a frustrated manner, “I don’t know how to get that through your thick skull. I don’t want you gone. I want you back with me. In our home, as a proper family again.”

“That’s why you shipped me off to Arkham, right? That’s why you fucking slit my throat?!”

“Things were different then!” He was crazy and Bruce… wasn’t much better. The death of Jason Todd ruined him, and the resurrection of Jason Todd reopened all his wounds. He was so confused then, really. Bruce was so relieved his boy was back, so, so happy, but at the same time… that wasn’t the little spitfire he knew. There was something raw and cruel about Jason. He had a deep anger that seeped into his every move, and it made him different. Bruce wasn’t prepared for different. He reacted horribly, frankly. He can admit that now. To be fair, though, Jason was acting more a villain at the time than a hero.

Bruce let out a controlled breath, “I… I did mess up then, with you. I know I did. I should have handled you, the situation, everything, better. I’m telling you this because I want to fix things now. Do now what I wasn’t able to do then.”

Jason just stared, mouth gaping in slight disbelief and wonder, “Wow, those were a lot of words.”

“ _Jason_.”

“Ok, ok, yeah,” take it seriously, and all that. He knows he should, though, Batman just admitted… a lot to him. A lot he has always wanted to hear, but always feared he wouldn’t. Yet it just doesn’t feel right, somehow, as much as he wants to, it just doesn’t.

He wanted to cry.

“What do you want me to do with this information?”

“I want you to come home, Jason,” Bruce closed the gap between them, resting his hand on his son’s shoulder and pulling him close. He wrapped his arm around Jason, and if Jason was foolish enough, he’d think it was a hug. Still, that doesn’t stop him from resting his head on Bruce’s shoulder and pretending.

“I don’t have a home anymore.”

“Yes. You do,” Bruce tightens his hug, “Your home is with me.”

Jason wanted to cry, and this time he allowed the tears to fall while hiding his sorrow in Bruce’s cape. He brought his hands up, gripping the front of Bruce’s uniform and biting his lip to try and quiet the sobs.

Bruce ran a comforting hand down Jason’s back, turning his head to place a soft kiss on the side of his temple, “Come home, Jason. We miss you.”

Jason pulled back, sniffed, and wiped his eyes, “I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“Because, Bruce! I can’t, we just can’t just go back and pretend nothing ever happened. We can’t just snap our fingers and pretend we haven’t spilled each other’s blood.”

 _I know_. God, Bruce knows. He knows what they’ve done to each other, what Jason has done to him and what he’s done to Jason. But he wants to try. He wants to actually try and fix this with Jason, have a relationship with him again, “Then what do you want to do?”

“What do you mean?”

“What do you want to do? How do you want to start fixing this?”

Bruce is actually letting him… choose? He’s letting him choose what to do next? “Slow. We gotta go slow,” no family dinners, no big meetings, no big anything. Slow, “We can go for some waffles.”

“Waffles?”

“Yeah, for brunch,” Jason picked at Bruce’s uniform, a little tick he’s had ever since he was a child, “You don’t have to, though,” he paused to catch his thoughts, but the silence felt deafening. This is stupid, Bruce doesn’t want this - he didn’t even want to be here, “Actually, this is stupid. This is so stupid, never mind-“

“No, no,” Bruce knew to stop Jason in his tracks, knew that it’s better than to let Jason pull back in and close himself off from them again, “I would love to do brunch with you.”

“Really?”  
“Yes,” Bruce smiled softly, “Does this mean no family dinner tonight?”

Jason nodded, but Bruce was ok with that. This is progress, and yeah, perhaps the progress isn’t going nearly as fast as he’d have liked, but it’s still good. It’s still quite good.

“I look forward to our brunch, Jason,” he smiled, “It-“ _It’ll be like old times_ , but he knew better than to say that, “It will be good.”

Jason nodded once again. Bruce stepped closer, resting a hand on his head, just like how he did when he was Robin, “I’ll see you tomorrow for brunch. Waffle House?”

When Jason smiled, it made Bruce’s heart sore, “Ten?”

“Ten sounds good,” he leaned down and kissed Jason’s forehead. It was strikingly familiar, and Jason couldn’t stop his smile from growing.

“Yeah, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

**Author's Note:**

> I hope y'all enjoyed it! Bruce wanting to actually fix his relationship with Jason is my vibe


End file.
